Why does my lo only take 3oz at DF?

[dani2806]

Hello,

I wonder if any of you has the same problem with the DF.
My lo (5 months) never takes more than 3oz. During the day he drinks 5-6oz at a time.
I usually feed him at around 7 before his bath so there's always at least 3.5h between the last feed and the DF.
He wakes for a feed during the night (around 2am) and takes about 3-4oz so I think if he took 6oz at the DF he would sleep longer...

Any tips on how to make him drink more?

Also, I have another question.
The other day last week my lo woke before the DF, had about 3-4oz and slept through (!!!).But that was just once unfortunately.  Could it be that it's better to let him wake on his own?

Thanks
Dani

[* Paula *]

It could be that the dreamfeed is affecting your lo's sleep.

It might be worthwhile to see what time your lo wakes and see if that helps him sleep through the night.  Give it a couple of days to see how it goes.

If it does not work you can always go back to the DF.

With regards to only taking 3 oz - they only take what they need, so perhaps that is filling him up at that stage.

[Deb_in_oz]

i agree with Paula.

1st my girls never took much at the DF, just enough that it combined with 1 night feed and they woudl sleep well and eventually drop the other night feed. for Liv a 3oz DF was good and we only occasionally had a 4-5 oz feed.

you coudl just try it without the Df for a week and see if he can do it on his own. alex was not inclined to drop the o'night feed even with the Df so we dropped the DF first and let her build up her night ability until she dropped the o'night feed herself - at least then it was just 1 feed an i coudl go to bed before DF time

[dani2806]

Thanks TTMum and Paula,

Funnily enough my lo took nearly 6oz yesterday! But nothing changed much. I gave his last feed at 6:30 and put him in bed at 7 , eralier than usual because he missed his catnap.
He woke at 10pm, fed, then went back to sleep just fine.
But then he was agitatedfrom 12am to 3, waking up on and off. At 3am he had 3-4oz and slept until 6:30.
He may have had problems during the night due to missing the catnap (this problem is posted in another board...) but I'm not sure.
So... now I'm unsure if I should just drop the dreamfeed and maybe give him the last feed a bit earlier, like 6:30, so that he would maybe wake by 10pm and eat.
I'm confused because Tracy seems to say that it's better if they don't wake up for that top up feed.

What do you think?
Dani

[* Paula *]

Dani,

It all depends on your lo.

My DS never took a dreamfeed, but would wake up at 11 for his feed.

I would keep as you are going for the meantime, and see how it goes.  It could definitely be that your lo was fussy durning the night cause he was overtired.

Let us know how you get on.